re UK/USA bonnet fashions

[kathleen]

chris,

attached is my grandma in her go to town bonnet, having done just that. i reckon this to be c. 1987, she would have been about 84.

[chris h]

Kath,

I cannot remember any of my older relatives wearing bonnets, I had a posse of great aunts all who lived into their nineties but they never left the house without a hat to do so would have been social suicide. Another domestic task that was hugely important in social terms was holystoning the front doorstep, all older houses here are stone and the doorsteps had to be done everyday. If I walked up the village street in the 1950's at say 07.00 the women would all be out doing the doorsteps !

Regards

[kathleen]

ho·ly·stone (hl-stn)
n.

A piece of soft sandstone used for scouring the wooden decks of a ship.
tr.v. ho·ly·stoned, ho·ly·ston·ing, ho·ly·stones

To scrub or scour with a piece of soft sandstone.


just in case any body beside me wondered.

nobody seems to be doing this on my front step . . .

[chris h]

K,

I'd suggest hiring a maid for that step !

One my aunts had an upstairs corner room in her house that overlooked the main street. She had a selection of chairs at each widow so she could watch passers by, in fact anything that was going on below. For activities that were a little far away she produced a pair of German submarine binoculars ( brought back from the Great war by her brother) to observe the action ! Guests visiting this 'observatory' were plied with enormous selection boxes of French chocolates and unlimited spirits. Half pints of vodka being a favourite with her.

Regards

[Ed_L]

Kathleen,

Thanks for the explanation. Is this another term from the UK that I'm not familiar with? Maybe I'm just not into doing that sort of thing at 7 A.M.

I also don't remember any of my older relatives wearing bonnets. They seem to have been more popular in the southern states, at least in the recent past.

Thanks Chris for the history lesson. That was very interesting.

Ed